Business policy

LESSON 1 COMPREHENSIVE ASSIGNMENT

Sun Tzu, the brilliant Chinese general and premier military strategist, lived 2,400 years ago. He wrote a book called The Art of War. His sayings and notes reflect a wonderful relevance to today?s strategic management of business, as well as the art of achieving a competitive advantage. The theme of the book is that ?war is won not through strength but through skillful manipulation?a victory of the writing brush and brains over sword and strength? (Shlapentokh, 2006).

Another important person to study in this course is Will Rogers. Born on a western frontier ranch on the Cherokee Nation (later to become Oklahoma) in 1879, Rogers lived a colorful life until his death in 1935. He was a movie star, newspaper columnist, and author whose opinions were solicited by leaders all over the world ( Will Rogers Memorial Archives , 1994). Rogers had a healthy sense of humor and a quick wit. He was also famous for his many practical sayings about the political and economic times that were not only funny, but could also be appropriately applied to today?s business concepts of management.

For each lesson, you will be given a quote from one of these two dynamic men to reflect upon as it applies to business policy and strategy. For this lesson, examine this quote from Sun Tzu: ?Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy’s army without battle….They conquer by strategy.? How would you relate this to business policy and strategy? Discuss your thoughts regarding this quote in approximately 500 words.

Once you compete all of the lessons and complete your global assignments, you should have a realistic and practical understanding of the need for planning and business policy. Write a 1,500-word paper that will tie these concepts together and explain your understanding of the major core concepts from the course as they relate to these eight quotes. You may reference each quote and paraphrase your thoughts and understanding.